Premier Rock Forum

benadrian wrote: Fri Feb 13, 2026 2:53 pm I feel like older Hot Rod Deluxe amps are always on FB Marketplace for like $300 ish . I've considered getting two just to use as stereo tube power amps for Helix. I think Balls has used them as platforms for building custom amps. I'm pretty sure Dr. T. Balls has done this.

Yep.

benadrian wrote: Fri Feb 13, 2026 2:53 pm

cakes wrote: Sat Feb 07, 2026 3:41 pm Went looking for a cheap combo 2x12 that sounded decent, and came across a Fender DeVille.

Honestly, I don't know why I didn't think of getting one of these, I was just hoping to find something interesting at a used shop.

I feel like older Hot Rod Deluxe amps are always on FB Marketplace for like $300 ish . I've considered getting two just to use as stereo tube power amps for Helix. I think Balls has used them as platforms for building custom amps. I'm pretty sure Dr. T. Balls has done this.

Bill Bragg has a back line Hot Rod Deluxe at all the gigs I've seen him do in the past 10 years, and he always sounds solid.

I saw the last Bragg tour and yes he sounded great.

Also I really dialed in my Helix for acoustic guitar and the pickup system we made sounds really, really good through it. Winning combo

Dr. Ballz, that looks so good.

Tyler, I owe you an email.

Strymon flint - kinda perfect for what it is. I wanted another reverb pedal and trem to go with the ampeg I have whose reverb sounds super weird (it has an aftermarket MOD tank in there, but it's still pretty shrill and ghostly. Not bad, just specific) and having more trem on hand is always good.

Pretty happy. Lotsa options in a little box, and I like that you can goose up the trem by 3 db to offset the normal audio loss with trem. Very helpful feature.

Can pull off burma and the smiths!

benadrian wrote: Sat Feb 14, 2026 1:49 pm Dr. Ballz, that looks so good.

Tyler, I owe you an email.

You don’t owe me nothin chief but I’ll takes what I get

Maestro Comet Chorus. Great sounding chorus, also has a mode that adds tremolo. Excellent. Looks cool too.

Fender Engager Boost. Very clean boost with a 3 band EQ, switchable mid frequency (400Hz or 800Hz). Really surprised me how great this thing is.

I’m using an M Live playback device for drums and samples. For shows I’d like to bring the second unit as backup in case anything goes wrong. So I was looking for a device that merges 2 times 8 inputs to 8 outputs. After some googling I found the Palmer pan 16. You can use the link outs as inputs when you hit the merge button. Works perfectly! Plus it’s a D.I. Box too. 240 bucks.

bassdriver wrote: Wed Feb 18, 2026 11:19 amPalmer pan 16.

Not a bad price for a 8CH rack DI. Does the link button work essentially the same as pluggin 2 sources into the In and Thru of any passive DI? I used to do that with Computer stereo sources to sum to mono to save channels when i had a bunch of stupid Power Point machines plugged in and Stereo was inconsequential.

Kniferide wrote: Wed Feb 18, 2026 12:24 pm

bassdriver wrote: Wed Feb 18, 2026 11:19 amPalmer pan 16.

Not a bad price for a 8CH rack DI. Does the link button work essentially the same as pluggin 2 sources into the In and Thru of any passive DI? I used to do that with Computer stereo sources to sum to mono to save channels when i had a bunch of stupid Power Point machines plugged in and Stereo was inconsequential.

it's either the link out as in a normal D.I. box, or switched to merge, inputs 9-16. on the back side it's balanced XLR out and 2 input channels summed to a jack output.

bassdriver wrote: Wed Feb 18, 2026 12:30 pm

Kniferide wrote: Wed Feb 18, 2026 12:24 pm

bassdriver wrote: Wed Feb 18, 2026 11:19 amPalmer pan 16.

Not a bad price for a 8CH rack DI. Does the link button work essentially the same as pluggin 2 sources into the In and Thru of any passive DI? I used to do that with Computer stereo sources to sum to mono to save channels when i had a bunch of stupid Power Point machines plugged in and Stereo was inconsequential.

it's either the link out as in a normal D.I. box, or switched to merge, inputs 9-16. on the back side it's balanced XLR out and 2 input channels summed to a jack output.

are you dropping fliff on that M Live 8ch auto switcher thing? It's fancy and weird.